Sweet Victory

by Melanie Shawn

  Samantha's breasts weren’t too small or too big. They were full and round, and looked like they would fit in his hands perfectly – hands that now began twitching at the thought of cupping them, feeling their weight in his palms.

  Her nipples were hard and surrounded by the most beautiful, delicate shade of pink he had ever seen, fading into ivory china doll skin as the mounds rounded out at the bottom and sides.

  His mouth was watering at the thought of swirling his tongue around those perfect nipples before he drew them into his mouth and sucked them until she pleaded for more.

  Luke was snapped out of the trance caused by the erotic foreplay that was running through his head like a movie, as he saw Samantha run behind the opposite curtain in a blur. He was just about to call out to her when he heard her bellow, “Get. Out. Of. Here!”

  He turned and saw Stephan, Sam’s manager standing behind him, smirking. “You heard the lady Luke, I think it’s time you go. You might want to wipe that drool off your chin first, though.”

  Stephan smiled somewhat condescendingly as he patted Luke on the shoulder, and Luke turned and left, shaking his head at the unexpected turn of events.

  He hated leaving the encounter thinking that now Sam actually had some REAL ammunition for her seeming distaste for him, but clearing it up at that exact moment was obviously not an option. He had figured that he would see her around, and then he could explain – but that had never happened.

  It had been six full months since The Incident, and Luke had not yet been able to shake the vision of Samantha Holt standing before him in next to nothing. It would pop up at the most unexpected times.

  He would be grocery shopping and see an apple the exact shade of her next-to-nothing bikini bottom, and he would flash back to it. He would hear a snatch of conversation where the people had Eastern European accents, and he would remember the wardrobe mistress telling Samantha, “You haff beautiful body.”

  She sure as hell did, he agreed with the woman in his mind.

  But the crazy thing was, at least as it related to Luke's usual MO, that her perfect, compact form was not even his favorite thing about her.

  Samantha was cute, sexy, intelligent, competitive, kind – but what had always struck Luke was how loyal and hardworking Sam was. She never seemed to fall into what Luke referred to as ‘believing your own press.’ She never relied on her beauty or rested in her past accomplishments. She walked into every competition as if it was her first, like she had to earn the right to be there. Sam worked hard for her success.

  Well, now he was in a position where Sam was going to judge whether he, as well, was willing to fight for this job as if his life depended on it, or if he was just going to sit back and assume that they'd be so wowed by his credentials, looks, and charm that they'd figure they were lucky to have the opportunity for him to be the ski pro here.

  And, Luke couldn't lie. That was probably how he would approach most interviews. After all, Luke knew that most resorts WOULD be lucky to have him. That wasn't being cocky, either. With his talent and his name, they'd attract far more business with him as a draw than he would cost them in salary and benefits. It was just good business sense.

  But he sensed – no, he corrected himself wryly, he KNEW – that this sort of self-aggrandizing argument would get no play whatsoever with Samantha Holt. If she was in charge of deciding his fate here, he was going to need to be utterly sincere about his desire to work as part of the team.

  The one question he worried about how to answer was when they would inevitably ask him what made him choose to apply to Mountain Ridge. What had made HIM choose THEM.

  He smiled to himself. Would it be maybe a bit TOO honest and straightforward to admit that it was almost 100% because he wanted to be around Samantha?

  --- ~ ---

  Sam could feel Luke's eyes on her. She determinedly stared at Amanda. Not only did she refuse to give him the satisfaction of returning his powerful gaze, she also didn't trust herself not to flush (or maybe drool) under the power of those spectacular baby blues.

  Yes, she had already embarrassed herself by not only choking but spilling her coffee. The last thing she needed was to add turning red and drooling uncontrollably to the morning's humiliations.

  Amanda smiled and cleared her throat, and Sam felt the heat of Luke's gaze move off of her face. Her tension eased somewhat, and she felt herself start to breathe again. She hadn't even realized she'd stopped.

  At the same time, though, she felt her emotions deflate slightly as his eyes left her face. In some ways, ever since she had met him at 18, she always felt like she was strolling in the sunshine when his eyes were on her, and stumbling in the shadows when they weren't.

  But, she reminded herself in an attempt to buck up, shadows are good. You can deal with shadows. No one's ever gotten a sunburn in the shadows, or dehydrated from being in the shadows too long. No one's ever gotten skin cancer due to prolonged exposure to shadows. Yep. When it came down to it, shadows were the safer bet all around.

  They were just so much less fun!

  “So do you two know each other?” Amanda asked, and Sam was annoyed to note that she saw amusement battling with concern for control of Amanda's facial expression.

  Struggling to make her voice sound, cool, calm, controlled – blasé even – Sam said, “We know a lot of the same people. It's a small community.”

  We do know a lot of the same people,” Luke confirmed, “But unfortunately we've never had the opportunity to get to know each other personally.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Sam saw his eyes turn back to her face and the melody of 'Here Comes the Sun' began to run through her head. She barked out a little laugh, but immediately realized that must have made her look a little crazy, since no one else in the room was privy to her stream of consciousness.

  She attempted to quickly cover by faking a small coughing fit, which she realized probably didn't make her look much better, but at least she wouldn't look crazy.

  Amanda apparently decided that it was time to put Sam out of her misery, so she jumped in and started asking the questions that formed the meat of the interview. She posed all the basic interview inquiries you would expect from a potential employer, and Luke (being Luke) gave all the brilliant answers that you would expect to hear from a potential gold star, amazing catch new hire.

  Amanda periodically looked at Sam, clearly expecting her to jump in, but Sam couldn't bring herself to speak even when it would have been natural for her to interject. She realized that she was not only acting like an idiot, but she was actually completely and utterly failing to perform her basic job duties during the FIRST THIRTY MINUTES of her new employment. Great. It would be just her luck if, after this interview, Luke got a job and she lost hers.

  Her eyes widened at this internal revelation. Not at the thought that Amanda would fire her, that had been sarcasm. Mand wouldn't fire her over just her behavior in this interview. No, what had shocked Samantha was the thought that Luke could actually get a job there!

  Of course, she scolded herself, the possibility of getting a job is the whole point of an interview. DUH! It was just that she had been so wrapped up in processing her reaction to just SEEING him that she hadn't taken the time to follow the course of possible events out to its logical conclusion. Luke interviews for job. Luke gets job. Luke works side by side with her every single day.

  Damn.

  As the interview progressed, Sam could see Amanda becoming more comfortable around Luke, dropping her guard more and more with every question and every answer. By about the ten minute mark, the room had more of a feeling of old friends catching up than a formal interview.

  It began to sink in to Sam that it wasn't only possible that Luke would get this job, it was fairly likely. After all, who could possibly be better? Hope Falls was no Aspen, or Vail – or even Lake Tahoe. There was not going to be any glamorous cache or celebrity-style paycheck attached to this job, just a lot of hard work that would be rewar
ded by a decent salary and the chance to be part of the tight-knit Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures family. Sam wouldn't trade that deal for the world, but it wasn't going to have other former Olympians of Luke's caliber knocking down their doors.

  Sam couldn't decide whether Luke's employment at Mountain Ridge would be a good thing or a bad thing. Of course, if Sam explicitly told her friend not to hire Luke, she knew Amanda would accede to her wishes. But was that what Sam wanted? She absolutely could not make sense of it with Luke sitting so near to her, his arm brushing against hers so often. It was too overwhelming.

  Just then, she heard Amanda ask Luke why he would be interested in taking on a position he was so clearly overqualified for, and Sam snapped to attention. She was very keen to hear his response to this question!

  “Well, I grew up in Lake Tahoe, and have always loved the area,” Luke began, “My family is still all here. I have two brothers, both happily married. One has two daughters, the other has a son and one more on the way.

  My Dad passed away last spring, and while my Mom is doing OK, his passing woke me up to the reality that life is too short not to spend it with the people who mean the most to you. For me, those people are my family. Because of that, I've been putting feelers out for anything that might be opening up in the area.”

  Amanda took a deep breath, and Sam could tell she was affected by Luke's speech. Sam was, too, truth be told. She hadn't known that his Dad passed away. God, she hadn't even known he was from Tahoe!

  Amanda looked at Luke sympathetically, and with tears forming in the corner of her eyes, said, “I'm so sorry for your loss, Luke. My father passed away a few months ago. I understand something like that waking you up to what's really important.”

  Luke nodded, his sympathetic expression toward Amanda mirroring hers toward him.

  “I heard about your Dad, Amanda. I actually met Parker several times. My folks would always make a point of going out of our way to detour through Hope Falls on our way into San Francisco so we could have breakfast or lunch at Sue Ann's Cafe. Every time he was there he would stop by our table. He always remembered my parents' names, as well as my brothers and I. He always remembered what grades we were in.

  As a kid, I just thought that was normal. But looking back, now, I see it for how amazing it really was. We were just an out of town family passing through, and he always made us feel like family. I can't even imagine the loss you must feel.

  My Mom and brothers were able to make it to his memorial service, and they said it was amazing...that they had never seen anything quite like it.”

  Parker Jacobs, Amanda's father, had been a beloved figure in Hope Falls, and its surrounding areas. When he had passed away several months before, due to the sheer number of people who had shown up to his memorial service – over 5,000 – they had made an impromptu decision to move the service to the football stadium at the high school.

  Sam knew that it was still difficult for Amanda to believe that Parker was really gone – although she was comforted by the fact that he was still doing good deeds, even after his passing. Parker's death had brought the return of Justin, Amanda's fiancé, who had left Hope Falls ten years before due to a misunderstanding. Parker had known that the two belonged together and had included Justin in his will, prompting Justin's return and subsequent reconnection with Amanda.

  Tears were flowing freely down Amanda's face now, and Sam handed her some Kleenex from the box that was on the desk.

  Precisely at that moment, Justin walked through the door of the office, he and Amanda's black lab Teddy trailing close at his heels. Seeing his fiancé in a state of distress, he immediately adopted a protective stance.

  “What's wrong?” he asked, concern intensifying his tone, and crossed to her in two fast steps. He wrapped one arm around her protectively, angling his body so that he was shielding her from Sam and Luke.

  “Oh, baby, I'm fine,” Amanda said dismissively, wiping her eyes with the Kleenex.

  Justin looked at her suspiciously, “You don't seem fine.”

  Amanda joked, “Oh, sure, this is how I behave in all my interviews, didn't you know? You're marrying a consummate professional!”

  When Justin still didn't look convinced, she conceded, “We were just talking about Dad.”

  Immediately, Justin's posture relaxed, and his energy transformed from tense to nurturing. He smiled tenderly down at his fiancé and tucked a loose curl behind Amanda's ear, one which had escaped from her always-unruly ponytail. He leaned down and kissed her gently, saying, “I'm sorry, baby.”

  Sam felt a catch in her chest. She was happy for her friend. She knew how long Amanda had been in love with Justin, and she could see how happy he made her now. But there was a little, teeny, tiny, itty, bitty part of Sam that was jealous of Amanda's relationship, and of Karina's. They had both found love with amazing men, and she was thrilled for them. But she wanted someone to look at her the way that Ryan and Justin looked at Karina and Amanda.

  Amanda sat up straighter and shook herself a little, as if in an attempt to shake off the heavy mood. She put on a bright smile and patted Justin on the chest, subtly backing him away so that he was no longer blocking the space between her and Sam and Luke.

  “Justin, I'm really glad you stopped in, actually. I want to introduce you to Luke Reynolds. He's here about the ski pro position. And, Luke, this is Justin Barnes – my fiancé and the co-owner of Mountain Ridge.”

  Sam heard the pride that infused the phrase “my fiancé” and saw it light up Amanda's face, as well. Again, she felt that small flutter of hollowness in her chest, that vague aching longing that told her how wonderful it would be to have her own someone that she could introduce with such quiet pride.

  “Nice to meet you, Justin,” Luke said as he stood and extended his hand in greeting.

  As Justin shook Luke's hand, he looked closely at his face, and then recognition dawned.

  “Wait a minute,” he said in pleasant surprise, “Your last name is Reynolds – you're not related to Bobby and Chad, are you?”

  “Yep, those are my little brothers,” Luke replied proudly, and then amended, “Well, not so little anymore. They both have at least an inch on me now.”

  The affectionate amusement in his voice told Sam that talking about his family was something that he loved to do.

  “Whoa, they must be tall!” Amanda exclaimed, eyeing Luke's six-foot-two frame.

  Luke laughed self-deprecatingly, “Yeah, we're definitely the family to call if you need something from the top shelves.”

  Justin shook his head in amazement, “Man, I haven't seen those guys since Little League! I thought you must be related to them, though, you all really look alike.”

  Turning to Amanda, Justin explained, “They played for the Tahoe Tigers, Hope Falls' biggest rival.”

  Amanda laughed, “I'm surprised you two are even on speaking terms.”

  Justin returned the chuckle and clapped his hand on Luke's shoulder, “I'm willing to let it go if he is. So, how are Bobby and Chad?”

  “Pretty good!” Luke smiled, beaming like the proud brother that he was, “They're both married. Bobby and his wife Ashley have two little girls that keep them on their toes, and Chad has a three year old son, and another one on the way. His wife, Stephanie, is due any day now, actually.”

  “Wow, married with kids. That's great. Give them my best.”

  “Sure thing,” Luke agreed, then gestured out the window, “Man, you have a great place here. Amanda's been filling me in a little bit about what you guys have in mind with the expansion, and it has amazing potential. I hope to be part of it.”

  As he uttered those last words, his smiling gaze turned on Sam. Feeling the strength of his eyes on her, Sam couldn't resist the temptation to raise her head and look at him. Best to face it head on, and look directly into the sun.

  Big mistake, she realized, as her eyes caught his and she was engulfed in a vortex of hotness – one that was only intensified when Lu
ke winked at her as soon as their eyes met. She couldn't speak, but she found herself unable to look away.

  Justin – seemingly oblivious to the 'vortex of hotness' that was swallowing Sam whole, or the very real-seeming danger of her being burned up by the sun – replied to Luke's statement as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

  “Yeah, it's really shaping up. Have you seen the slopes yet? We updated our lift and are in the process of clearing the runs now. You guys want to head over and check it out?”

  Amanda, who was nowhere near as oblivious to Sam's plight as her fiancé was, saved her further humiliation by suggesting, “Babe, why don't you go give Luke the tour. I've already shown Sam, and we really need to go over her new-hire info.”

  “OK, sounds good. See you in a few,” Justin said as he turned to leave. Almost as an afterthought, he turned back to Amanda before walking away and scooped her up in a big bear hug. He playfully stage-whispered in her ear, “But, trust me, my dear – I WILL get you alone, and soon!”

  His intent for originally suggesting that Sam and Luke go off to check out the slopes became clear, and Amanda laughed.

  “Down boy!” she admonished playfully, but when he set her down and turned to walk out with Luke, she added with a naughty half-smile, “Don't think I won't hold you to that, though.”

  “Um, guys? You're not in a cone of silence,” Sam interjected in an attempt to break the sexual tension that, between her and Luke and now Amanda and Justin, had grown uncomfortably thick for Sam's liking.

  Luke surprised Sam, then, by tossing his head back and laughing heartily at her joke. She sat up a little straighter. She was used to any number of reactions to her somewhat corny jokes, but unadulterated, enthusiastic laughter was not one of them. She liked it.

  Exhibiting absolutely zero embarrassment about the sexual innuendo he was displaying, Justin swatted Amanda on the rear and said seductively, “And I'm going to enjoy every minute of being held to it, don't you worry about that.”